Beardstown Class of 2017 small, competitive

Published 3:11 am, Monday, May 29, 2017

Maria Hymes hugs Edgar Cortes on Sunday after Beardstown High School’s graduation ceremony. Cortes graduated in the top 10 of his class, despite a diagnosis in March of a rare form of cancer.

Maria Hymes hugs Edgar Cortes on Sunday after Beardstown High School’s graduation ceremony. Cortes graduated in the top 10 of his class, despite a diagnosis in March of a rare form of cancer.

Beardstown Class of 2017 small, competitive

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BEARDSTOWN — When Edgar Cortes’ name was called Sunday during Beardstown High School’s graduation ceremony, he received a standing ovation.

In March, Cortes, son of Floriberto and Rosa Cortes, was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer that grows under the skin. Recently, he had surgery on his lower abdomen.

Despite this, he graduated among the top 10 students in his class.

“I tried to ignore the fact I had cancer and keep going with my academic career,” Cortes said. “I tried my hardest to finish in the top 10 to make my family proud.”

Many students showed their support by attaching a white cancer awareness ribbon with Edgar’s name on their graduation caps.

The display of support from fellow classmates, school faculty and the broader community “touches your heart,” Cortes said.

“It motivates me to keep trying,” he said said. “Even when times get hard, I know I’ve got my community here to support me.”

In the fall, Cortes plans to attend Quincy University, he said. Right now, his main focus is battling cancer.

He soon will start treatment at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, he said.

Cortes was the 2017 homecoming king and student council president, Beardstown High School Principal Scott Riddle said.

“He’s a great young man,” Riddle said.

After nine years with the district, this will be Riddle’s last graduation with Beardstown School District.

“It’s been a privilege and a humbling experience to work with such a diverse group of students,” he said.

The Class of 2017 was one of the smallest Riddle has had in his career — 82 graduates — but it also was one of the most competitive, he said. In fact, the top 10 students weren’t decided until late last week, as the difference in grade point averages came down to 1/5 of a point, Riddle said.

As a result, valedictorian Mason Goodrich, son of Thomas and Julia Goodrich, chose some of Mark Twain’s words for his senior quote: “Never put off ’til tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.”

That might not be his advice for future students, though, he said.

“It was very stressful,” Goodrich said. “Effective, but stressful.”

His advice for future students would probably be, “Make sure you use all your resources,” he said.

Goodrich plans to attend Western Illinois University in the fall to major in computer science and minor in criminal justice.

Growing up about 10 miles outside Beardstown, he always had technology around, he said. He would tinker with computers — pulling them apart and reassembling them — and learn computer coding.

As for criminal justice, his grandfather was involved with law and Goodrich looked up to him as a role model, Goodrich said.

The Beardstown community has prepared him for both fields of study, he said. Because of the city’s diversity, he’s been exposed to a variety of cultures. This has helped him in computer science, as he considers computer codes another language, he said. With criminal justice, his time in Beardstown has helped him not to be biased, he said.

Though the Class of 2017 was competitive, it also was close-knit, Riddle said.

“They worked well together for the school and for the community,” Riddle said.